A Sudden Reappearance
by Kookier Than You
Summary: After Edward left, Bella was bitten and became a vampire. But something happened to her just before she changed, something that caused her to lose her memory. When Bella sees the Cullens ten years later, she has no idea who they are. The Cullens, especially Edward, are left with a huge decision. Do they tell her who they are or wait for her to gain her memory back?
1. Chapter 1

**I didn't write the book, so don't expect it to be just as good! I hope you like it though.**

**Chapter 1: Unexpected Encounter**

**Bella:**

It was night time, my favourite part of the day. The moon illuminated the forest I was in in an almost magical way. The creatures of the day started to leave, the sweet release of sleep the only thing on their minds and the nocturnal animals came out to play. I wondered idly how it would feel to sleep, to have my overactive brain shut off, giving me just a few hours of peace in my rather depressing existence.

I sighed, before closing my eyes and listening to the sounds of the night. An owl hooted a couple of yards to the west, fluttering its wings. To the east, I could hear a heart beating rapidly and feet pounding on the earthen ground. I took off running to the east. It was a deer, not the greatest of conquests but I couldn't be choosy right now. I needed the blood.

Because tomorrow I would be attending high school for the first time. And I needed to make sure that I was strong enough to resist high school students, more specifically the blood pulsing through their young veins, so sweet and succulent.

I lunged for the animal, my razor sharp venom coated teeth plunging into the deer's jugular. I sucked the blood, warm and slightly watery, until there was none left. I sighed in satisfaction as I let go off the animal and dropped it to the floor.

School was going to be difficult. I had never been, at least I didn't think I had, but I knew that I wasn't going to like it. It was necessary though, if I wanted to stay in one place for more than a few days at a time. I had finally gotten sick of moving around and settled in Charleston, West Virginia. Not the ideal location but it didn't get much sun so I was able to lead a quite normal life.

For a soulless, blood-drinking monster anyway.

I sighed in sudden sadness, and closed my eyes, ready to nab a few more animals before heading home. I think I heard a mountain lion a few yards behind me. I grinned, it was my favourite. I took off running, chasing after the lion. If only I could chase away my nerves as easily. I ran until I saw the majestic beast and killed it before it could even begin to comprehend what had happened. The darkness had enveloped me, it hadn't seen a thing coming.

* * *

I went home, to a small one bedroom apartment. It was not secluded in the slightest but I could afford nothing else. I had gotten a telemarketer job. I worked from home, the calls that took normal humans forever to make took me no more than a few seconds before I closed the deal for the long-distance calling company I worked for. People loved my voice, it was difficult to say no to. I made enough money to buy new clothes, a car, and food. The food was only to keep up appearances. And because I was keeping up appearances, I had to go to school. However, I would only be going to school for a year. Since I did not have a guardian, I had to show them that I was of legal age to be living on my own. Therefore, the youngest I could start out at was eighteen, which made things very difficult. If I made one mistake, everything was over.

As I walked into my bedroom, butterflies fluttered in my stomach. If I weren't so nervous, I would have laughed at the humanness of my reaction. It was like I was really just a new student.

I had gotten a bit of blood on my shirt. I rarely got my clothes dirty, I must have been more nervous than I thought. I grabbed another t-shirt, a vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt. I wondered if anyone would know who the Rolling Stones were. Probably not. It had been ten years since I really had been a teenager and the Rolling Stones were old even then.

I walked to my car, an Audi, and got in, smelling the old leather and starting the ignition. I pulled out of the drive smoothly and drove quickly to the school, disobeying at least ten traffic laws on the way. The greenery of Charleston passed by as I entered the school's parking lot. The lot was tiny, barely able to fit thirty cars or so but it was littered with students. I parked into a spot without any difficulty and got out of the car, grabbing my bag as I did so.

I took a quick scan of the lot, listening idly to the conversations of the single minded children.

_"Who is that?"_ a boy with gelled up black hair said, incredulously.

_"She is hot! Dibs!"_ said another boy, wearing a leather jacket and donning sunglasses on his head, even though the sun was clearly not shining.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the school through the door with a big sign, claiming it as the main office. But before I opened the door, I heard another voice.

_"She looks like them"_, said a distinctly female voice, sounding very surprised.

What did that mean?

I decided to open the door, as people were staring and standing outside the office. I did not want to get too much attention from these children. I walked into the warm office and saw a woman with cropped blond hair at the front desk. I smiled at her as charmingly as I could, without showing any teeth.

"Hello, welcome to South Charleston High. How may I help you?" she said, in a friendly manner.

"Hi, my name is Bella Young," I said, grinning inwardly. If I were to be young forever, why not have a name to show it.

"Oh right, the new student," she said, sounding quite flustered. "Let me just go print off your schedule."

I smiled politely as she ran around trying to get everything I would need today. A few minutes later, I had my schedule, a map of the school, and a slip of paper that all of my teachers would be required to sign. I looked down and noticed with a small amount of pleasure that English would be my first class. I loved to read. My existence would have been even more dull without the comfort the written word provided.

I walked to the English classroom and introduced myself to the teacher. Mr. Mason's pupils dilated, and he swallowed nervously, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. I tried not to look at it, not needing the venom to pool further, and smiled at him instead, explaining that I needed him to sign my slip of paper. He looked at me blankly for a few seconds before I cleared my throat. He jumped and grabbed for the paper, signing it while red in the face.

I tried very hard not to notice how his cheeks pooled with blood and I was very proud of myself for turning around and taking the seat he assigned me all without ripping through his throat. Students poured in and I stopped breathing, their smell becoming just a little more pronounced.

That was when Mr. Mason decided to begin the lesson. "Okay well, good morning class. We have a new student today, Bella Young. Would you like to come up here and say a few words about yourself, Bella?"

I sighed inwardly. So this was how my first day was going to be like. Joy!

Without getting up, I said, "Hello, my name is Bella Young. I just moved here from Washington. My parents wanted me to get a feel for the area because I think I'm going to go to university around here," I said all of this while tracing a random pattern on the desk and not looking at anyone in particular. My voice held no emotion.

"Well...that was nice. Now why don't we discuss this year's syllabus," said Mr. Masen, sounding a little baffled by my rather clipped speech.

English went by at a snail's pace. Students kept staring at me, not even being discreet about it. I sat in a seat in the back so discretion was out of the window anyway. They either looked very mesmerized or very jealous.

The bell rang and I got up, ignoring the stupid humans, and I walked out of the room at a brisk but human pace. I looked down at my schedule and sighed. Gym.

I walked to the gym, nervously. If one class could be the death of me, it would be this one. Having to slow down enough not to detect suspicion from any of the humans, was going to be difficult. Plus the sweat running down their bodies would be hard to ignore. I was a predator, used to chasing my prey until they sweat. I listened to the blood pounding in their veins as their hearts hammered in their chests.

Now I was hungry. I would have to hunt again tonight, I thought with a bit of annoyance. I hated hunting. If anything made me feel like a monster, it would be hunting. I wondered idly if I had been a vegetarian in my past life. But like everything else in my past life, I just couldn't remember.

All I could remember of my past life was fire. It burned through my veins and my heart, scorching my entire body with its heat.

And a voice.

It was a boy, I was sure of that. He sounded scared and angry. "Bella! Bella, are you okay?" I wasn't sure, but I think I responded with a scream. "It's going to be alright," he said, not sounding very sure of himself. He picked up my hand, making me even hotter than before.

It might have been days or minutes later, but another voice, gruffer than the first, spoke. "Jacob, you must leave her now. She is not our concern anymore. She is a Cold One."

Jacob got angry. "You want me to just leave her here?" he had said, incredulously. "How can I possibly do that? She has no one to look after her!"

"It is not your concern. You are her enemy now," the gruff voice spoke again.

"She's still Bella!"

"Is she?" the gruff voice had said. "Look at her Jacob, feel her skin. That is not Bella. That is a vampire. The one thing that you are supposed to hate more than anything."

I didn't hear anything for a while after that. But then two sets of feet began to walk away.

And I was all alone.

To this day, I wonder who Jacob and the other man were. Were they friends of mine? Did they know what had happened to me? More times than I could count, I had wanted to run to the little town that I had woken up in and find them. To demand they tell me who I was and how I gotten bitten.

All I knew about myself when I woke up was that my name was Bella. I didn't know my last name, if I had had a family, what my favourite colour had been. I could live without the last answer but the other two left me in despair. My past was not letting me live in the present.

I left my inane thoughts as I walked into the gym and straight up to the gym teacher, Mrs. Kremer. I introduced myself and gave her my slip of paper to sign. She gave me a uniform but said I didn't have to dress down today. I smiled gratefully and sat down on the bleachers.

That was when I smelled it.

Vampire.

I looked for the source and found it in blond haired boy, holding a badminton racket. He was staring right at me, as if he could see right through me. I felt extremely confused. Who was this boy? Were there others like him here? Why was he looking at me in horror?

And why were his eyes the same colour as mine?

That last question shocked me. His eyes were a buttery gold, just like mine. He was a vegetarian vampire too. I was beyond words at this point.

It seemed as though he desperately wanted to talk to me.

I spent the whole class watching him. He was obviously lithe and strong but he hid it well. When the bell rang, I got up, my uniform securely in my hands, and walked out of the gym. I couldn't very well wait for him. He probably wouldn't be too fond of me ruining his cover if he were supposed to be unkind to all humans and then happily chatted with me.

With my head full of racing thoughts, I walked to my next class. Government was sure to go slowly and I wasn't surprised when it did. No vampires were in this class. Maybe he was the only one.

But I was wrong. He wasn't the only one, as I soon realized when I walked through the doors of the cafeteria. The blond boy sat beside a short black haired girl who resembled a pixie. They were quite obviously mates. I walked over to the lunch line and paid for food that I would never eat. Then I sat down at an empty table, ignoring the looks of the students around me and those of the two vampires at the table.

But they weren't the only ones.

The door of the cafeteria opened to reveal two more vampires. A blond beauty and a muscular boy walked through the doors like a power couple and sat down next to the others, their food already waiting for them.

Four vampires, all with warm buttery gold eyes.

I couldn't help the shock I felt.

They were all staring at me with different expressions. The blond boy looked appalled, the muscular one was grinning, the blond girl looked at me with contempt, and the little black haired girl looked so happy that if she could, she just might burst into tears.

I looked back at them with a confused expression before grabbing a book, Wuthering Heights, from my bag and starting to read. I wanted to talk to them but their expressions made me a little wary. I struggled to pay attention to the book rather than focus on my jumbled thoughts but the words were practically gibberish.

I could hear them hissing at each other.

"What do we do now?" said the blond girl, glaring in my direction. My eyes stayed trained on the book when all I really wanted to do was match her glare with equal anger.

"I don't know. But I really want to go talk to her,"said Muscles, in a deep but humorous voice.

"Why would we do that?" hissed the blond girl.

"Because that's Bella and we love her," said the black haired girl.

I dropped my book in shock. What the hell? I blinked several times and looked them, my brow furrowing in confusion and shock.

"Nice job, Alice!" said the blond girl to her friend in a very sarcastic tone.

"Shut up Rosalie!"

They argued back and forth for two minutes but I couldn't tell you what they said, I was just too shocked. When I just couldn't take it anymore, I got up and picked my tray up off the table. I dumped my untouched food in the garbage can and walked out of the cafeteria. I had wanted to run but I kept my pace human. Fear was beginning to etch its way into me and I didn't like it.

Who were these vampires? How did they know my name? And why did the little black haired one say she loved me?

What. The. Hell.

I walked into the parking lot and towards my car. Could I ditch the rest of school? It was my first day and that didn't seem proper but I sure as hell did not want to go back in there.

I put the key in the ignition, listening as the car came to life. I put it in drive and peeled out of the parking lot. But before I drove off, I looked in the rear view mirror and immediately wished I hadn't.

There they stood, watching me with their buttery gold eyes as I drove off.

* * *

**Alice:**

I sat down at our table in the cafeteria. I was the first one to show up, as usual. I sighed wistfully, Edward was always the first one to show up before. Lunchtime was always the hardest. My siblings would pretend that everything was fine but we all felt sadness at the empty chair around our table. Life wasn't the same without Edward. Our family felt his absence everyday. Sure, he called but we could all hear the depression in his voice. He was dead.

Well, more dead than a vampire could get.

He hadn't visited in two years and I beginning to wonder if he ever would again.

"Alice," said Jasper, looking very shocked.

"What is it, Jazz?" I asked, immediately worried.

"I-I just saw..." he stuttered. Jasper never had trouble getting words out so this had to be bad.

"What?" I asked, touching his face.

He looked at me. "Bella is here."

"What? That's impossible! Is she a teacher here?" I asked, surprise littering my tone.

He shook his head, "No."

That could only mean one thing then. I swallowed, "She's one of us." It wasn't a question. I was stating a fact.

He nodded anyway. We stared at each other. While I was shocked, I couldn't help but feel elation spread through my little body.

At that moment she walked in and looked over at us. She looked for barely a second, a human would have missed the slight tilt of her head as she stared, but I didn't. Then she walked over to the lunch line and bought some food before taking a seat at an empty table.

I was confused. Why didn't she come over to say hello? I almost got out of my seat before Jasper put his hand on my thigh, a silent warning against my actions. I looked at him, confusion the most prominent feeling I was having.

He shook his head at me as he looked at Bella. She was looking back at us with a confused expression which only intensified as Emmett and Rosalie sat down.

"Is that-?" said Rosalie, sounding surprised. Emmett looked surprised too.

We-Jasper and I-both nodded. We all looked over at Bella again, unashamedly staring at her. God, how I had missed her! She looked beautiful as a vampire. Immortality suited her. I wonder if she would let me take her shopping.

She was reading a book, not paying us any mind. But I knew that look on her face, she couldn't concentrate.

"What do we do now?" hissed Rosalie, glaring at Bella. I couldn't be sure but I thought I saw Bella's eyes harden.

"I don't know. But I really want to go talk to her,"said Emmett, sounding genuinely happy to see Bella.

"Why would we do that?" said Rosalie, as if it were the stupidest thing ever.

"Because that's Bella and we love her," I said, resolutely.

Bella dropped her book and looked at us with shock evident on her face. I wondered why she found that shocking. I was about to head over to her but Rosalie started to speak again.

"Nice job, Alice!" said Rosalie in a sarcastic tone.

"Shut up Rosalie!" I hissed, truly angry at her. She could be so annoying sometimes."Why can't you just like her? What is so bad about her?"

"What is so bad about her? You have got to be kidding me!" said Rosalie, sounding incredulous that I even had to ask.

"Yes, what is so bad about Bella? I think we would all love to know why you have such strong feelings about a girl that has done nothing to you!"

"She single-handedly tore apart our family and you're saying she did nothing wrong. Edward hasn't been with our family in years because of that little bitch! He's just this depressed shell of a man. And now after 10 years she comes back a vampire! I bet she begged a vampire to bite her just so she could come back and ruin our lives further!" said Rosalie, not even taking a breath throughout her entire speech. Not like she had to anyway.

Now I was mad, but I sounded eerily calm. "Rosalie, I know you don't like the existence that you are living. But honestly, no one is asking you to live it. You don't have to be here. Bella is going to a part of our family whether you like it or not. And as for her asking a vampire to bite her? I think that is absurd on the face of it. I also think that you don't really believe it and are just being a bitch because you think no one will say anything. Well, as you can see, that didn't happen. Edward is Bella's and Bella is Edward's. Deal with it and stop being your usual shallow self." It was mean but completely honest.

Judging by her face, she was extremely angry. Mad enough that if we weren't at the school, she would have lunged at me. I didn't care, instead I looked over at Bella's table.

Which was empty.

"Where did she go?" I said, feeling a little bit panicked. Why did she leave?

I got up and walked hurriedly to the cafeteria exit. I could hear my family walking behind me but I didn't care if they were following or not. As soon as we got out, we saw her car drive out of the parking lot, like a bat out of hell. She looked at her rear view mirror once and even from as far as I was, I could see something in her eyes. Something I didn't like very much.

Fear.

**So what do you think? I think I'm going to post another chapter and see if you guys think it's worth continuing. Let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Memory Loss**

**Alice:**

We drove home at a breakneck pace, after calling Carlisle on the phone. We didn't tell him why he had to come home, we just told him that he did. And because he's Carlisle, he agreed, no questions asked. At least not until we all got home.

We all flitted through the front door, not speaking since Rosalie and I had had our argument. We went straight to the dining room. I softly called for Esme and she appeared mere seconds later, a concerned expression on her face. She quietly took a seat, without a word, at the head of the table while we waited for Carlisle. She knew better than to say anything. A discussion was necessary but would only start if everyone were present. Except of course, for Edward.

Carlisle appeared minutes later, looking worried. I couldn't blame him, I had sounded frantic. He wordlessly took a seat as the head of the table. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke. "Would anyone care to tell me what is going on?"

The fours of looked at each, each wondering who exactly would say it. They all knew it would be me. I took a deep breath before saying, "Bella is here."

Carlisle and Esme shared a look of shock and wonder. I could have sworn Esme was fighting off a smile.

"Is she a teacher at the school?" Esme asked, smiling.

"No, she...she's a vampire," I said, my eyes downcast.

"What?" she breathed. "How can that be?"

Nobody said anything but I knew that we were all wondering the same thing. How did she become a vampire? And why hadn't she sought us out when she turned? She didn't look a day over eighteen. She had obviously been a vampire for a long time.

Then Emmett asked the real question. "Do we tell Edward?"

"NO!" yelled Rosalie.

"Rosalie, calm down. Edward should know. He has been depressed for much too long. He needs to be given the chance to see her, if he chooses to," said Carlisle, the voice of reason as usual.

"So we're just going to tell him that his little girlfriend is a vampire so he can come here and live out his little fantasy? What about the rest of us? Don't we get a say on whether or not Bella should be a part of this family?"

"Shut up, Rosalie!" I said, seething with anger.

She lunged, but apparently forgot that I could see the future. I was halfway across the room before she could grab me.

"Rosalie!" said Carlisle and Esme in unison as Emmett restrained her. She struggled for a few seconds, her face twisted in anger before she gave up and became limp. Emmett let her go and she ran out of the room and up the stairs. We heard her bedroom door slam, reverberating throughout the house. Emmett gave us an apologetic look before he also ran up the stairs.

Carlisle put his head in his hands and made a frustrated noise. Esme leaned up against him, rubbing his shoulders in comfort. I stayed standing where I was as Jasper came to stand beside me. Looking up into his adoring eyes, I made a decision.

I was going to call Edward, no matter how Rosalie felt. No one should go without love, especially not two people who were so perfect for each other.

I ran to the counter in the kitchen and grabbed the phone, running back to the dining room just as quickly. I dialed Edward's number and waited as he picked up. It rang for a full minute before he picked up. I knew he was hoping that whoever was on the phone would give up, but he should know better than to ignore me.

"Hello," said Edward, sounding like hell. His tortured voice hurt to hear. At least I wasn't looking at his face. That hurt a million times more.

"Hi Edward," I said as cheerfully as I could muster.

"Alice, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He didn't sound like it pleased him at all. His monotonous voice expressed displeasure. I couldn't pretend that didn't hurt.

"I have some news."

"What is it?" he asked, a tiny amount of emotion in his voice.

"It's well, I don't really know how to say this but...umm..." Why hadn't I prepared something to say before I called him?

"Alice, come on you're killing me," he said, in the same monotonous tone, not realizing the irony of his statement. He hadn't been alive in a long time and I was killing him. Yeah right, Edward.

Carlisle came up to me and gestured for the phone. I breathed a sigh of relief and handed the phone over to him.

"Edward, son?" he spoke, hesitantly.

_"Carlisle, what is going on?"_ said Edward, sounding a bit on edge.

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to say this so I'm just going to say it. It's about Bella. She's-"

Edward cut him off._ "Bella! What's wrong? Is she okay?!_" he said, no traces of monotone in his voice now. He was frantic with worry. I heard something heavy topple over.

"Edward, she is here with us in Charleston," said Carlisle, flinching slightly.

_"Why is she there?"_ he asked, in a voice so small I almost didn't hear him.

"I don't know why she is here. We haven't talked to her yet," said Carlisle, sighing. I knew exactly what he was going to say next. "Edward, she is a vampire."

_"What?!"_ roared Edward, shock and anger evident in his tone.

"We don't really know how it-"

_"I'm on my way,"_ said Edward, hanging up.

Carlisle looked at the phone for a minute, as if it were going to bite him. "That went well," he said, shooting me a rather displeased look.

I shrugged, "It needed to be done," was all I said. "I'm going to go fix up Edward's room." He would be here in exactly three hours, since he was currently residing in upper Canada.

I flitted up the stairs, a small smile donning my face. Edward would finally be happy. I just knew it.

And nobody bet against me.

* * *

**Bella:**

I didn't go to school the next day. My nerves were just too frayed to spend the day going from class to class. I just couldn't bear the thought that I might see them.

It was now 4:30 and I was sitting in my room, reading through Wuthering Heights. I sighed, deciding that hunting would be a smart decision. Even though I had gone hunting two days ago, I felt drained and I needed something to keep me from biting the heads off of several students tomorrow. That couldn't go over well.

Yes, I was going back to school tomorrow. It gave me the rest of the day to calm down.

I heard a ringing noise and wondered for a moment at what it could be. Before long, I realized that it was the intercom. Someone wanted to see me. I flitted through my room and the living room to the wall that held the little box and pressed one of the buttons. "Hello?" I said, my voice apprehensive.

"Hello," I heard someone with a calm, pleasant voice say. "My name is Carlisle Cullen. My children met you yesterday at school. I was wondering if my family could come up and welcome you to town." He sounded so rehearsed. We all knew what it was like to keep up appearances.

I would have snorted if I weren't so terrified. Who were these people and what could they possibly want? With the exception of yesterday, I hadn't seen another vampire in three years. This was too much.

But they knew me. Somehow, from somewhere, these vampires knew me. And I wanted to find out how. Even if it terrified me that they did know me.

"Come on up," I said, pressing the button to let them up.

I quickly scanned my appearance in the reflection of the refrigerator. It definitely left something to be desired. My grey sweatshirt and yoga pants weren't the nicest attire to wear when making introductions. I rolled my eyes at myself.

I lived on the second floor so not even two minutes later, I heard a tapping sound on my door. I swallowed nervously, a human habit, turned the lock on the door, and twisted the knob. Seven pairs of gold eyes set in completely different faces greeted me with warm smiles. There was a blond man, I ventured a guess that he was the one I had spoken to. He looked kind but not as kind as the women he was holding hands with. Her caramel coloured hair framed her face and her smile was enormous. The girl beside her was the beautiful blond girl that had glared at me the day before. My eyes narrowed as I looked at her, she did not intimidate me. Next to her was Muscles, the boy I had seen in gym, and the small pixie like girl who had said she loved me. Behind them all was a boy I had not seen before but now my eyes stayed trained on him. He was beautiful. His bronze hair shone and his features were angular. He looked right back at me, his eyes fighting different emotions. It was odd but I felt like reaching out and touching him. What was happening to me?

"Hello, I'm Bella. Would you like to come in?" I said politely, moving the door so they could make their way inside.

But none of them moved.

They shared confused expressions. Their confused expressions made me confused. It was just an endless cycle of confusion and I was tired of it.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" I said, a little perturbed at their attitudes.

"No, no. We're sorry. We are being terribly rude," the blond man said, making the first step into the apartment. They all followed suit and once the bronze haired boy made it inside I shut the door, grazing his shoulder in the process. I felt electricity but didn't comment on it. It was odd and I was sure he would think I was crazy.

I turned around and watched as they all took seats on the couch or the floor. The armchair in the corner was all mine and I made my way over to it, sitting down gingerly. I was nervous.

"Who are you all?" I asked, my voice quiet even to me. I knew they could hear me though. All vampires had exceptional hearing.

They exchanged odd looks again but Carlisle hurriedly made introductions.

"I am Carlisle," he said gesturing to himself, "and this is Esme," he said gesturing to the kind looking woman beside him. I smiled slightly at both of them. "That is Alice and Jasper," he pointed to the black haired girl and the blond boy. The black haired girl grinned widely at me. I could feel my eyebrows scrunch up in confusion and her grin soon left. "Rosalie and Emmett," said Carlisle, a little hesitantly. Rosalie bared her teeth at me and I rolled my eyes at her. What was her problem? "And that is Edward," said Carlisle, pointing to a boy sitting on the sofa. "We are the Cullens," he said simply.

I decided to reintroduce myself. "Like I said, my name is Bella. I am posing as Bella Young at school."

"Bella Young?" asked Esme, tilting her head in confusion.

I smiled, "I know it's stupid. But when I was thinking of last names, I came across Young and I thought it was funny." When they continued to look at me oddly I said, "because we don't age..."

Emmett snorted. But Rosalie silenced him with a look. She had obviously been dragged here. That made two of us that didn't want her here.

"Why did you make up a name?" asked Carlisle curiously.

I didn't understand the reasoning behind his question but I answered it anyway. "Well, I don't remember my real last name so I made one up. I only know my first name because someone, I don't know who, had said it while I was changing."

"Is that the only thing you don't remember from your human life?" asked Carlisle but I think he already knew the answer.

"I know nothing but my first name and that I woke up in a small town called Forks," I said, grimacing slightly.

"Nothing?" said Edward, incredulously.

I looked at him in confusion, his odd behaviour making me feel worse about my situation.

"No, I don't remember anything. Problem?" I said, icily. I could feel my face turn cold. Well, colder than it already was.

He shook his head, "Sorry."

I nodded, my jaw clenched and turned my attention back to Carlisle.

"Well, that is unheard of. Most vampires remember little of their lives as humans, but they do remember some details. Are you sure?" asked Carlisle.

"I'm sure," I said, my tone clipped and angry.

"But-"

"Carlisle," Jasper said, in a warning tone. He looked like he knew something. I looked at him curiously, all anger forgotten for the moment.

"What is your power?" I asked him, my eyes slightly narrowed. He had one, I was sure of it.

He and Carlisle shared a look, surprise mixed with questioning.

Carlisle was the first to answer. "Jasper can detect and manipulate one's emotions," he said, sighing.

I scrutinized him. So he knew exactly how I was feeling. Anger raged through me and he flinched.

"Are there more?" I asked with sudden suspicion.

"Alice can see the future," said Carlisle, then hesitantly said, "And Edward can read minds."

I glared at him. He was just like Aro.

"And do you have any special abilities?" asked Jasper curiously.

I sighed, annoyed, but answered anyway. "I am a mental shield. I am able to project it quite far."

"And what types of mental attacks are you able to fend off?" asked Carlisle, interested.

"All of them. Aro cannot read my mind, Jane cannot cause me pain, Alec cannot cut off my senses. I've got a thick skull I guess," I said, smiling slightly-even though their questions were beginning to annoy me-and tapping my head.

" You've met the Volturi?" said Edward, speaking up for the first time. "How could you have put yourself in so much danger? How could you be so reckless? The Volturi are not to be messed with. And now that they know the extent of your power, they must want recruit you," said Edward. It didn't even sound like he was talking to me, just muttering things to himself.

I almost snorted. "For your information, I was once part of the Volturi. Aro recruited me as a newborn. I left three years ago, although I do still get cards and calls from him asking me to return every now and then. And also, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, who are you to tell me what I can and can't do? I don't even know you. So if I want to go prance around the Volturi, I will," I said, gritting my teeth. Who did this boy think he was?

"But-" he started but was cut off by Carlisle.

"Hush Edward," he said. I couldn't tell but it sounded like Carlisle was telling Edward something in his mind, something that Edward didn't like very much by how he frowned and pinched his nose.

I sighed, suddenly this day was beginning to wear down on me more than I had thought. "Do you have anymore questions for me? I would like very much to go hunting."

"Of course we can continue this at a later date. Just one question before we go," said Carlisle. "How did you get changed?"

This was a difficult question to answer but I tried my best. Looking down, I started my story. "I don't remember anything other than a boy speaking to me as I was burning. He said he didn't want to leave me but another person told him I was not the same person anymore. Then they left and a day later I woke up, a vampire. I had been so thirsty. I remember running through the woods, wondering why I was so fast. Just at the end of the trail there was a car and I smelled something intoxicating, a human male. It wasn't until after I killed him and drained him of blood that I realized what I was."

"Did you ever figure out who the man was?" asked Alice, sounding tearful.

I looked up at them with unseeing eyes, "No, all that I know is that he was an officer. The Chief of Police of a small town called Forks."

**So Bella killed Charlie and doesn't even know it. Should the Cullens tell her or not?**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I'm slow. Sorry! I'll try to be faster with writing chapters. **

**Bella:**

They all sucked in shocked gasps at my admission, as if they had never heard of a vampire killing a human before. For all I knew, they were all completely clean of murder and really thought that I was a cold blooded killer that deserved no sympathy for her actions. It was probably true. The Cullens stared at me in absolute horror for what felt like hours, but in actuality was probably no more than a few milliseconds.

Carlisle was the first to recover. "Was...was he the only human that you've..." he said, trailing off. He must have really been shocked at my behaviour, vampires are usually much more eloquent.

The answer to his question made me feel shame and repulsion at my past. "No, he wasn't the only one. He was just the first one."

"There were others?" he said.

I shifted in my seat, suddenly very uncomfortable. "I told you that I was part of the Volturi already. And when you are part of them your eyes are red, not gold. I killed many but my first will always haunt me."

Rosalie snorted. I turned my head and looked at her sharply. "What now?" I said, my tone deadly.

"I just think that—" she started but was cut off by Edward.

"Rosalie apologizes. She didn't mean to be rude," he said, looking at the blond girl with fire in his eyes, "It's just a part of who she is."

Rosalie matched his glare but soon huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her glare to the floor.

_What a child, _I thought, looking at her with disdain.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Why did you stop?"

I gritted my teeth, not wanting to answer another question. "I think we should leave our discussion there, Mr. Cullen. Now, if you would all excuse me, I would very much like to go hunt."

"Oh, yes of course," said Carlisle, looking a little flustered.

They all looked a bit confused at my response but they wordlessly got up from their seats and headed for the door. Once at the door, Edward turned around.

"It was nice to see you," he said, emotion thick in his voice.

I wondered at his odd phrasing. Most people would say _It was nice to meet you_ when they met someone for the first time. Instead of commenting on something that I was sure wasn't a big deal, I nodded. For some reason, I didn't trust myself to speak. He still annoyed me but there was something about him that made me feel _odd_.

They all said goodbye and left through the door, barely making any noise. I stared at the back of Edward's head as he left, wondering when I would see him and the Cullens again. There was one thing I was sure of though. If I did see them, I needed to keep my distance, physically and emotionally. Especially emotionally.

* * *

**Edward:**

As I left Bella's tiny apartment, the shock of the evening truly set in. Maybe I had finally gone crazy after all of these years apart from her. It would explain a lot. I couldn't believe that I had really just seen her. It was like a dream and a nightmare all rolled up into one meeting. A dream because I missed her like crazy all these years and a nightmare because of her lack of humanity. I couldn't help but believe that it was my fault that her cheeks no longer filled with blood.

We walked down the stairs and through the parking lot before anyone said a word. Of course it would be Rosalie who broke the silence.

"She killed her dad! What a monster," she said, a disgusted look on her flawless face.

"Shush Rosalie," said Carlisle, his parental instincts taking over.

None of them had noticed that I had stopped walking after Rosalie spoke. When they did, they all turned to look at me, confusion littering their frozen faces.

"What did you say?" I said, staring at Rosalie. My voice sounded ripe with anger directed at the blonde. "How dare you say that? How can you possibly say that that woman is a monster?"

"Oh come on, Edward. She killed her dad," she said, looking at me like I was a fool.

I knew that I wasn't a fool. Not anymore. I was a fool when I left her but I was back now and I wasn't foolish enough to leave again.

"Do you own a heart, Rosalie? I mean I know it doesn't beat anymore but is it still there?" I said, grinding my teeth. "She has no clue what happened to her. She has no clue who we are."_ She has no clue who I am._ "She has no clue that she killed her father. How can she be a monster?"

She stared at me for a few seconds, quite possibly wondering if I owned a brain. Then, without warning, she turned and continued towards the cars. I let out a frustrated breath before I began to walk too. The others shuffled forward after me, purposely keeping quiet so as not to offend me even though I could hear their thoughts quite clearly.

_I'm sorry about Rose, man_, thought Emmett, _I know she didn't mean it. _Even though that's what he said to me, it didn't sound like he was being truthful with himself. I tilted my head to the left—where I knew Emmett was—and nodded once. He smiled slightly before walking a little faster to catch up with Rosalie.

Carlisle was considering everything that Bella had said. _I can't believe she was in the Volturi. How did she leave? How did she know she could sustain herself on animal blood? I wonder if Aro knows she's here. That wouldn't make him happy. He already thinks our family is a threat._

Carlisle's thoughts were something to ponder. I would definitely ask him about them later.

We got into the two cars we had brought. I sat in the backseat of Carlisle's new Mercedes all by myself with Carlisle and Esme in the front. The other four were sitting in Emmett's hummer. I usually liked to drive but on the way here I had been a bit too nervous to do so. I sighed and looked up at Bella's window once before we left. I saw her beautiful face watching as we left, completely emotionless. She was no longer the girl who smiled at me all the time. She was no longer the girl who playfully argued with me. She was no longer the girl who loved me back.

And who was to blame? Me.

I had told her to forget me and she did exactly that, effectively tearing a hole in my chest.

I watched her, unable to do anything else, while Carlisle started the car. After a few seconds, she turned away from the window. It felt like a rejection. I hung my head as we drove away.

_It will all work itself out, Edward, _thought Esme, smiling kindly at me in the rear-view mirror.

I hoped, with all of my unbeating heart, that she was right.

* * *

**Bella:**

I was extremely nervous when I got into my car the next day for school. All night and day I had feared doing this. I tried shaking my nerves off, to no avail. _This is no different than any other day_, I thought, trying to make myself believe it.

I was too smart to believe it.

I drove to school slowly, prolonging the inevitable. I wondered what the Cullens would say today. Would they even want to talk to me? I had mixed feelings about talking to them. There were many reasons not to befriend them. For one, they posed a security threat. With more people there was more of a chance that one of us would make a mistake which would cause problems—extremely severe problems—for the rest of us.

Another reason, a much more important one and one that I tried hard to ignore, was that I just did not deserve their friendship.

By the time I got to the parking lot of the school, I still hadn't made up my mind about the Cullens. I exited my vehicle and took a quick look around. I saw many children chatting by their cars but they weren't who I was looking for. I swept my eyes around the parking lot until I saw them. They were standing beside a large yellow hummer and a neon green corvette. Both looked quite new.

They were all staring at me, in a way that made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Only Rosalie was staring at me with anger. I had difficulty placing the emotions on the faces of the others. The ringing of the bell saved me from an awkward encounter with the family. I turned away from them and walked into the school, heading towards my English class.

I had thought that this class would give me a break from having to see the Cullens and give me a chance to decide whether I wanted to talk to them.

I was wrong.

This became apparent when one such Cullen with copper coloured hair entered the room, seconds before the bell rang. He ran a hand through his hair, making it appear even messier than it already was. He walked straight up to the Mr. Mason to introduce himself, holding the same piece of paper that I had had two days ago.

"Hello, sir," I heard Edward say, smiling politely at the teacher. He was smart not to show any teeth. "My name is Edward Cullen. I'm a new student here."

Mr. Mason looked at him curiously for a few seconds before he spoke. "Hello, Mr. Cullen. I was not aware that there was another Cullen sibling." He sounded suspicious but he signed the piece of paper anyway.

I watched Edward carefully as he prepared his lie. He was probably listening to the man's thoughts and formulating his response based on them. Lucky bastard.

"I was previously attending a school abroad but I missed my family so I decided to come back," he said, not batting an eyelash or looking away. He was the perfect liar.

"Oh, yes of course. Why don't you take a seat and we can start?" said Mr. Mason, waving him off.

Edward turned around to find a seat. I had gotten here pretty quickly and had taken my seat in the back corner. The only open seat was the one directly in front of me. Edward walked towards his seat, eyes trained on me. He gave me an awkward smile as he walked. I did not reciprocate.

"Hello," he said, right before sitting down.

I gave him a quick nod. He looked a little disappointed before he turned his head to the front.

"Okay class, we have a new student. Edward, would you care to tell the class a little bit about yourself?" asked Mr. Mason. It didn't sound like a question to me. It was more of a demand.

"My name is Edward Cullen. I'm from Chicago, along with the rest of my adopted family. I have a twin sister named Alice, two brothers and another sister," said Edward, sounding extremely bored and tired.

Mr. Mason huffed slightly at the end of his speech. I guess he was hoping for more than what Edward had said. It was almost as if he was supposed to explain his entire life story. Now that would have been interesting.

English passed by slowly. We read a story and answered some questions pertaining to the story. Fun. I guess Mr. Mason wasn't big on actually interacting with his students. I didn't mind though. It was better the less I had to participate. When the bell rang, I got out of my seat quickly, leaving Edward behind.

I walked to gym as fast as possible without looking inhuman. Once I was inside the gym, I took an unnecessary deep breath. It wouldn't be smart to talk to Edward. As I sat through English, I realized that I could not get close to the Cullens, no matter how much I wanted their company. This was more than just them being a security threat. I did not belong with their family. They were all clean, pure. I was not.

"You're dressing down today, right?"

I turned around to see Mrs. Kremer, the gym teacher. She was wearing typical gym clothes, spandex shorts and a grey Nike t-shirt. Her blonde hair was tied up in a smooth ponytail. A white whistle hung around her neck. She was embracing her stereotype.

"Yes," I said, nodding.

"Alright then, here is your uniform," she said, handing me a pair of black pair of shorts and a yellow t-shirt that I hadn't noticed before.

I smiled politely before walking off in the direction of the girl's locker room. I entered the room full of girl warily. I could hear the chatter outside the door and it did not please me.

"He was in my English class this morning," I heard a curly haired brunette say as I walked through the room.

Girls stared at me as I meandered my way through the room to one of the stalls. I paid them no mind. I went inside the stall and took all of five seconds changing. Then I waited the appropriate time to match the timing of a human.

"He's so cute. And his name is totally vintage. Edward. Gorgeous," another girl said.

"Please, Andrea. He's not going to be interested in you," said the first girl, sounding extremely bratty.

I almost snorted. Like he was going to go after this girl. A vampire dating a human. Now that would be interesting. Once she found out what he really was, she would go running for the hills. If she had any inkling of intelligence, that is.

The other girl said nothing and I almost felt bad for her. The curly haired girl was a pain and I hadn't even properly met her.

I decided I had waited long enough and came outside of the stall. It was a good thing I had worn runners today since I had completely forgotten about gym. I locked my clothes up and walked out of the locker room, tying my hair up as I went.

I immediately spotted Jasper standing off to the side, away from the other humans. They looked afraid of him. I wondered what they thought about him.

"Hi there," said a voice to my left.

I looked up to see a tall blonde boy. He looked like a typical surfer. He was tan and from what I could see of his body, he was toned. He smiled at me suggestively and I almost laughed at the ludicrous thoughts that must be going through his puny brain.

"Hello," I said, no emotion attached to the word.

I turned my head away and looked at Jasper again. He had a frown on his face. I guess he was picking up on the boy's emotions and they disgusted him. I raised an eyebrow at him in question and he shook his head. Again, I almost smiled. Having been good with hiding my emotions my entire life, I did nothing though.

"My name is Tom and you are?" said the surfer boy, still smiling.

"Busy," I replied and walked off just as Mrs. Kremer blew her whistle to signal the beginning of class.

"Alright class, huddle up," she said authoritatively.

Immediately students began to make their way over to her. I wanted to look back at Tom's face to see his reaction but instead I just walked to the teacher, biting on my lip to keep from grinning. It was fun to play with humans. Sometimes.

Once everyone was surrounding her, Mrs. Kremer began talking. "Today we are going to play dodge ball. I know it's kind of kiddy but it's either this or run laps the whole class. Another gym class took the basketballs and the other equipment is either damaged or needs to be inflated."

I sighed, not feeling up to playing a game where the only objective was to throw balls at people. Who would ever feel up to playing such a game?

"You half are team one," said Mrs. Kremer, pointing to the people on her left. "And you half are team two," she said pointing to the people on her right. "Team one is on the far side of the gym and team two is on this side."

I was on team two so I stayed standing where I was. I watched some of the children get into little groups to decide on tactics. I rolled my eyes. What tactics were there to dodge ball?

"Team two too, huh?" said Jasper, almost as if he had appeared from thin air. He grinned at me.

"Yeah," I said, not looking at him.

"Think we're going to win?" he said, continuing with the small talk.

"Well, they do have two vampires on their team. How can they lose?" I said this part so quietly that human ears would not hear it if they were listening. Which they probably were. Jasper and I had attracted some attention by a few students. Mainly the boy that had struck out with me. He did not look pleased that I was standing and talking to Jasper.

He laughed. "Well, when you put it that way, we're shoe ins."

I gave him a small smile. It was the same smile I gave to the teachers or to the guy at the grocery store that checked the food I would never eat. The polite smile that I gave because it was socially required, not because I wanted to express any amount of joy.

Mrs. Kremer started the game by blowing her whistle. I looked straight ahead and saw a line of red balls lined up in the middle of the gym. I sighed again, not moving. I didn't want to potentially touch one of the humans. Instead, both Jasper and I waited a minute as the students practically tackled each other to get the balls. It made them look like animals, which in turn made me a little thirsty.

"I guess we should start," he said reluctantly after a few minutes.

I nodded and the two of us advanced. I grabbed a ball from the ground and lightly threw it at a human boy. It hit him harder than I thought but not hard enough to warrant suspicion.

"Might want to go a little lighter, Bella," said Jasper, a small smile on his face.

"Duly noted," I said, picking up another one and throwing it as lightly as possible at the surfer boy.

"What? Who hit me?" said the boy, outraged.

I almost laughed at his tone. Instead I moved out of the way of a ball that had been aimed at my head. I looked towards the direction it came from and saw the curly haired brunette from the locker room. Her jaw was set. I guess she was mad that the ball didn't connect with my head. My next throw was directed at her. It hit her square in the face.

"Ow!" said the girl. "Bitch!"

Even though she was out, she started chucking ball after ball at me. I dodged every one of them, making her even angrier. I chuckled, finding this girl quite amusing. If only she knew who she was throwing balls at. If only she knew _what_ she was throwing balls at. I imagined her face and it made me laugh a little harder, only enraging her more.

When she ran out of balls, she huffed and stomped her foot like a toddler. She walked off to the bench where those that were eliminated from the game went.

"Well, she's a sore loser," said Jasper, coming up beside me and handing me another ball.

I took it from him and smiled the same polite smile I had before and said, "The sorest."

He grinned and we went back to playing the game. Playing was not a correct term. We went back to owning the game.

The whistle blew just as Jasper and I took care of the last person standing on team one. We probably shouldn't have played as competitively as we had but it was a little fun. I would have to remind myself next time not to completely decimate the humans in order to stay under the radar.

"Alright, class. Hit the showers," said the gym teacher.

Jasper raised his hand for a high five. Slightly amused, I raised my hand to give him one.

"Good game," he said.

"You too," I responded.

"So, do you want to eat lunch with us today?" he asked, looking unsure. It wouldn't have surprised me if Alice, the pushy pixie as I referred to her in my head, had made him ask.

I thought about accepting his offer for a few seconds. It had been fun playing with Jasper. But before I could say yes, reality came crashing down. I was not a Cullen. Their family was not mine. I needed to remember that.

"No thanks," I said, before heading to the locker room, not daring to look back at Jasper's face.

I was not a Cullen and I never would be.

**I decided to give Bella conflicting emotions throughout this chapter because she is one confused vampire and probably will stay confused for a while. **


End file.
